NOTES drogen peroxide as measured a t 26, 37, and 54". Excellent agreement with the first-order assumption can be seen.The reaction rate constants are plotted 21s. 1/T in Figure 2; the activation energy for the process is 12.9 kcal./mole. Table I shows the activation energies obtained by other investigators for the decomposition of H202 on glass. 11, is of interest to note the divergence among the results, depending on the various treatments of the glass. The excellent agreement between our value and that of Giguhre for Pyrex glass indicates that the mechanism of the heterogeneous decomposition in both the liquid and the vapor phases is the same. This suggestion, based on other considerations, has been made by Roiter and Gaukman,* who compared the activities of several catalytic materials for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide; they noted that the relative activities of the catalysts studied were about the same in the liquid as in the vapor phase.(4) V. I was increased by using a highly stabilized, solid-state d.c. power supply to heat the platinum specimen and by monitoring the resistance of the specimen with a fast-response digital voltmeter.The experimental procedure was similar to that employed in ref. 1 except that the arc was stabilized by running for 2 hr. before starting the oxidation run, and the 0-atom concentration was measured in the vicinity of the specimen before and after each run. The concentration of 0 atoms was varied for the different runs by varying the distance between the specimen and the discharge. No effect of flow rate of oxygen on the results could be observed.
Results and DiscussionIt was shown previously (Figure 3 of ref. 1) that the oxidation of platinum by both 0 atoms and O2 molecules is linear with respect to time. The dependence of the rate of oxidation of a typical specimen (length, 2.9 cm. ; width, 0.0287 cm. ; thickness, 0.0025 cm. ; center section, 1.1 cm.) a t different temperatures on the partial pressure of 0 atoms is shown in Figure 1. The rates are total rates, including oxidation due to both 0 atoms and O2 molecules. The intercept on the ordinate is the rate due to 0 2 molecules alone a t the corresponding temperature. The data a t 900
and MechanismSome time ago we reported1 that the rate of oxidation of platinum a t 1000" was enhanced in activated oxygen. Recent experiments2 have confirmed that the enhancement most probably results from the reaction of the normal 3P 0 atom with the platinum and that the oxide formed is PtOz. Since the reaction is now defined, the present communication will discuss the kinetics and the mechanism.
Experimental SectionThe oxidation experiments have been extended to other temperatures, and the apparatus has been modified to allow use of more modern methods of 0-atom production and detection. A microwave power supply with a slotted wave guide was used to activate the oxygen, and the concentration of 0 atoms in the oxygen was determined by the NO2 titration and NO-0 afterglow technique^.^ The precision of the results Gas: Oxygen -1 percen...